Diane-Michel.com

Resource: CharterforCompassion.org

“There is an urgent need for a new focus on compassion.

Bringing together voices from all cultures and religions, the Charter seeks to remind the world we already share the core principles of compassion.

On November 12, thousands of people across the globe will listen together.”

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CHARTER FOR COMPASSION TRAILER from TED Prize on Vimeo.

Resource: Geoffrey Bene Cancer Research Center

“The GEOFFREY BEENE CANCER RESEARCH CENTER AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER was established in 2006. The total value of combined Geoffrey Beene donations exceed $106,000,000.

G. Thompson Hutton, the Trustee of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation and President of Geoffrey Beene, LLC, has orchestrated the activities to build and support this ambitious research initiative. “The hallmark of the GEOFFREY BEENE CANCER RESEARCH CENTER AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER is its focus on revolutionary new research approaches across a variety of cancers, strategies that will lead to prevention through improved diagnostics and enhanced quality of life treatments toward the ultimate goal of making cancer a more manageable and perhaps one day, a curable disease.”

Since its creation, the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center has served as the focal point for an array of projects, aimed at translating works at the cellular level into revolutionary new research approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating the disease. It brings together researchers and physicians from two complementary areas: the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, based in the Sloan-Kettering Institute (SKI), which studies the genetic and biochemical events that trigger the transformation of normal cells into cancerous ones, and the Memorial Hospital-based Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, which pursues new insights into the molecular mechanisms of cancer from the perspective of clinical oncology.

“The Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center has helped galvanize our efforts to gain new insights into cancer and to apply that knowledge to the development of more effective strategies for patient care,” said Harold Varmus, President of MSKCC. “We are especially grateful to Tom Hutton and his colleagues at Geoffrey Beene, LLC for recognizing the significance of the work being done here.”

The funds from Geoffrey Beene support advanced new research initiatives spanning the entire range of translational research, funding core research labs, the establishment of senior and junior faculty chairs, graduate fellowships, and the annual Geoffrey Beene Symposium.

The Center provides support for the Geoffrey Beene Translational Oncology Core, directed by Dr. Charles Sawyers. The core performs genomic analyses of clinical material by applying state of the art genome-scale molecular profiling technologies.

The Center also provides support for the Microchemistry and Proteomics Core Facility and Genomics Core Facility aimed at significantly augmenting Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s capacity for translational cancer research in genomics.

Nine research grants were funded in the first year of the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center. In 2008 an additional ten research grants were funded as well as three proposals for shared resources.

Since the inception of the Center, Johanna Joyce, PhD, and Andrea Ventura, MD/PhD, Assistant Members in the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, and Ross Levine, MD, Assistant Member in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, have been appointed Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chairs. Hyung-Song Nam, an MD/PhD student, and Sindy Escobar-Alvarez, a PhD student, were named the first Geoffrey Beene graduate fellows in 2007. The second Geoffrey Beene Graduate Fellowships in 2008 were awarded to two PhD students, Vasilena Gocheva and Barry S. Taylor.”

Oversight of the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center is provided by the following members of its Executive Committee:

Today more than ever we need to revitalize and recapture the incredible brilliance and innovation that once was the symbol of America.  Science, math, medicine.  It’s all so important. 

In a recent posting on Twitter from Billie Perry, noted philanthropist and wife of Joe Perry of Aerosmith and fellow residents of Sarasota, Florida,   I learned of a new movement taking hold called “Rock Stars of Science.” who are behind this idea 100%.

According to the the Website: Rock Stars of Science:  http://www.rockstarsofscience.org/nominate.asp

“ It’s hard to believe, but the vast majority of Americans can’t name a single living scientist (Harris Interactive Survey). Yet 87% said they personally benefit every day from scientific advances, and 96% want America to be a world leader in science.”

The fact is: it’s urgent. Our mission is to accelerate science – from research bench to bedside.
Our motto: From cause to cure in our time.

Our most brilliant scientific minds are dedicated to finding cures for the diseases that threaten our future. And America’s most celebrated Rock Stars stand behind them.  A star-powered line-up joined the Rock S.O.S campaign to honor the Doctors and Researchers who are saving our lives, to make science rock as a career choice for the next generation, and to raise their platinum voices in demand for future research funding.”

Reference:
Rock Stars of Science.org (2009). Mission.  Retrieved September 27, 2009, from http://www.rockstarsofscience.org/mission.asp